For those of you who might have thought that you knew the results of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal this post is for you. After last weekend’s competitive stages it seemed that the Citroen DS3 of Hirvonen was the winner; however Hirvonen’s car failed post rally scrutineering. It was found that the Citroen’s clutch was outside of the homologation. In addition, the FIA is concerned that the turbine of the turbocharger might be illegal as well.
Due to these irregularities the initial results were modified and the Ford Fiesta WRC of Mads Østberg was declared the winner.
This rally did not go as expected for many people. Sebastien Loeb crashed out early, while both Petter Solberg and Jari-Matti Latvala waited until Saturday to go off the road after being first and second positions.
These accidents, combined with the Hirvonen exclusion, put some unfamiliar names in the top 10 finishers.
The official results of the 2012 Vodafone Rally de Portugal are as follows:
2012 Vodafone Rally De Portugal Official Results
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1. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson
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Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:21:16.1sec |
| 2. Evgeny Novikov/Denis Giraudet | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:22:49.3sec |
| 3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:23:11.7sec |
| 4. Nasser Al-Attiyah/G Bernacchini | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4:27:21.9sec |
| 5. Martin Prokop/Zdenek Hruza | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:27:25.3sec |
| 6. Dennis Kuipers/Robin Buysmans | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:28:03.4sec |
| 7. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia | Skoda Fabia S2000 | 4:28:25.1sec |
| 8. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4:29:54.0sec |
| 9. Jari Ketomaa/Mika Stenberg | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:31:08.9sec |
| 10. Peter Van Merksteijn/E Chevaillier | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4:31:27.1sec |
As a result of the final official results of the 2012 Vodafone Rally de Portugal the World Rally Championship drivers standings are as follows:
Driver Points
| 1. Sébastien Loeb | 66 |
| 2. Petter Solberg | 62 |
| 3. Mads Østberg | 53 |
| 4. Mikko Hirvonen | 50 |
| 5. Evgeny Novikov | 39 |
| 6. Jari-Matti Latvala | 28 |
| 7. Dani Sordo | 21 |
| 8. Nasser Al-Attiyah | 20 |
| 9. Ott Tänak | 15 |
| 10. Martin Prokop | 14 |
| 11. Sébastien Ogier | 10 |
The next event on the World Rally Championship schedule is Rally Argentina on April 26 to 29.
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